In response to Tony Sclafani New York Daily News Staff Writer "Bd to snuff Fire Patrol"

"I am the wife of a New York Fire Patrolman, and after reading your “Exclusive” article
“Bid to Snuff Fire Patrol” I felt compelled to write my response. Before I start I would like to say that you should be ashamed of yourself for writing a biased account of the New York Fire Patrol. In Journalism, I was taught to check your sources as well as your facts before you print them, and then check them again. Mr. Sclafani, you sir, did no such work. Instead, you let your own personal opinion write this story or perhaps others influenced your story to their own words. Shame on you for leading your readers to believe many of these untruths you wrote about and leaving out other truths that should have been told. There are always two sides to every story.

1) You failed to mention, the New York Board of Fire Underwriters and its voting members manage the Fire Patrol. They are the ones who manage all issues pertaining to the New York Fire Patrol. It was their management of the Fire Patrol that was in question, not the Officers or the Patrolman that were in question as you made it seem. These men have no say about the 1%-2% surcharge and where it goes. That is the job of the Board of Fire Underwriters and its voting members. You mention “modern times” and yes sir, I must agree with you on this. You would think that the Board of Fire Underwriters and their voting members would get in step and computerize the 3 Firehouses as well as updating the phone systems. Being behind the times was not a choice these men made but the Board of Fire Underwriters and their voting members decided on or should I say, lack there of deciding.
2) Patrol members have and use NFPA approved protective gear when responding to a fire or water issue. Do you actually think that a FDNY Battalion Chief would allow the Patrolmen to go into a burning building without the proper protective gear? Give the FDNY Chiefs a little more credit than that sir. Their uniforms are completely in regulation. As for adequate tools…my husband and several other Patrolmen have purchased tools themselves (not uncommon) to help them better perform their job functions when in a fire or water situation. In my opinion I feel this should have been the responsibility of the Board of Fire Underwriters as well as the voting members to adequately equip them with these tools rather than let these men go without or get the tools themselves. As for “earning more money than rookie firefighters” yes, some officers and patrolmen do earn more money than rookie fireman but you have left out that these men most times are officers or patrolmen who have been with the NY Fire Patrol for many, many years. Are you saying that they do not deserve to get paid decently for going into burning buildings and risking their lives by doing so as FDNY does? You failed to mention that unlike rookie firefighters, the Fire Patrolmen do not get overtime or paid holidays unless they actually work that holiday and they only get paid for the hours they worked of that holiday. So yes, some Patrolmen might make more money than a rookie fireman but how about the Patrolman who does not make as much money as the rookie fireman? Does he do any more or less? I don’t think so. These men give 110% of themselves every day they work. Are you saying that an Officer in the Fire Patrol should make less than a rookie fireman? Or how about a Patrolman who has worked years in the Fire Patrol they should make less than a rookie fireman? Sir, these Patrolman might make more money than a rookie fireman they have earned that salary just as the rookie will earn his or hers!
3) The findings that were laid out in the report obtained by the Daily News were not at the request of the Board of Fire Underwriters but by the voting members. You also decided to pick and choose what you wanted the public to know in twisted terms.
4) Ms. Ellen Melchionni should get into the real world. How about if Ms. Melchionni asked all the Brokers who pay the New York Fire Insurance surcharge to send back an assessment of all that the Fire Patrol has saved. Brokers most times never report back to the Patrol with the dollar amount saved after an operation, as they’re asked to. At the most recent save that was mentioned in your article, 300 tarps were laid, but not one Broker from that SoHo fire has brought forth the dollar amounts saved to the Fire Patrol Chief. Believe me when I say that the numbers you sighted in your article would drastically increase if these numbers were brought to the Patrol for record. Ms. Melchionni is speaking out her derrière when she said “They just frankly don’t find any value in the organization.” The voting members would find value in the Fire Patrol if only those who crunched the numbers of loss and savings stepped out from behind their desk every once in a while. Maybe then the Fire Patrol numbers would stand for what it is and that I am sure is well over “10 Million in savings”. Maybe the Brokers phones are broken and they are unable to contact the Fire Patrol to say “Thanks for the great job your men do you saved us millions” But that phone call has never been forthcoming and that leaves the Fire Patrol to under estimate the value of savings to each call they worked at. How fair is that? Why not ask Ms. Melchionni? Maybe she should start requiring her brokers to do the right thing and have them report dollar amount saved in each Fire Patrol response to their individual policyholders. Of course, this is not the case and again the Patrol has to low ball the numbers and not get the credit they should from a broker for saving 1 Million dollars when they have to estimate the value of savings at a low ball number of say $100,000 without a broker assessment. The Fire Patrol only receives credit for saving property that they actually throw a tarp over. They receive no credit for keeping the water for example, from traveling down five additional floors. In the formula for savings, it’s as if those floors don’t exist. They also receive no credit for a business getting back to work 1 day after a fire or water emergency instead of 1 week or 1 month, or never. They also receive no credit for the work in uninsured businesses or in city, state, and federal buildings. For example, in December, there was a large fire at 1 Centre Street, on the 20th floor. The Fire patrol used 200 covers to save the entire real estate records of Manhattan, but received no credit for any savings because, as a city building it was uninsured.
5) Keith Roma died saving people from the World Trade Center. He was not “trying” as you stated, he was doing. Do not insult his memory nor the memory of the 31 other Patrolman who died in the line of duty over the history of the Fire Patrol. There is no amount of money you can put on a life. And though the Fire Patrolmen who did survive and respond to the World Trade Center attack did not lay their life down to protect and save others, they did protect and save others and risked their lives to do so. These men are heroes and should be treated with the respect they rightfully deserve. That day, there was no Officer or Patrolmen there were only heroes. Just as FDNY, NYPD and NYPAPD are hero’s. No more, no less.

In conclusion I would just like to say for the record that these men are about to lose their jobs: The Chief, the Officers and the Patrolman. New York and its 5 boroughs are about to lose a great service. The Insurance Companies who are already financially strapped will be even harder hit with all the claims that could be made, if the Fire Patrol is unable to throw covers and protect property. Do you really think that the FDNY is going to throw 300 tarps to protect property when there is a fire to be put out? I don’t think so. Their priority is to rescue people and put the fire out. Maybe one or two covers will be laid, but that is it. You think 1% or 2% surcharge was a major amount to help fund the Fire Patrol? Just wait until the claims of fire and water damage start showing up in commercial buildings. Then what folks? The New York Fire Patrol who served this great city faithfully for almost 170 years will be gone. Have the brokers crunch the numbers they do not lie! The New York Fire Patrol is a vital service and one that should not be dissolved.

Mr. Sclafani why not do the job of journalism justice and check your facts. Take the time to do a story justice. Ask these proud men their side of the story. After all 2 Officers and 2 Patrolmen took a hand in writing the internal assessment under the pretense that it was going to help the job to better improve. Why not get out from behind your desk sir, and maybe take a run and see what these men actually do before insulting them and their work. These men are proud to be called Patrolmen and I am glad to know them and be a wife of a patrolman. It is a great organization and I believe in their fight to “Save the Fire Patrol”.
I thank you for your time and hope that you will consider writing a retraction or at least put the Fire Patrolmen’s side of the story in one of your columns. Give your readers the chance to make their own minds up about this great organization called the New York Fire Patrol and its doings, rather then showing them as your article has shown them in a bad light. Be fair. Stand up and be a true Journalist: Print the Truth."

In a vote yesterday afternoon by the Board of Directors and The Member Insurance companies of the New York Board of Fire Underwriters they have decided to vote to close the last 3 firehouses of the New York Fire Patrol.

Many people do not know what the Fire Patrol is here in New York. They see fireman with red hats working at a fire and assume that they are part of the New York Fire Department. That is not the case. They do work hand in hand but the New York Board of Fire Underwriters pays the Fire Patrol. The Fire Patrols job is to preserve and protect property during fire and water situations. These men also put their lives of the line by going into these fires to protect property by throwing covers over the property.

The most recent save was in the Soho area at the Prada, American Outfitters and Bobbie Brown stores where there was a 5-alarm fire. Not only did these brave men work relentlessly to protect the goods within these stores they also risked their lives to protect pieces of artwork on the fire floor. About 300 covers were used during this fire. With a possible savings of over a million dollars that merchandise would have otherwise been destroyed from the water that fell over the covered merchandise. That loss would have resulted in a larger claim with the insurance companies and loss of business for the retail companies. Because of the Patrols fine work merchandise was saved and able to be sold.

The Fire Patrol also promotes fire prevention and education. Patrolmen go to schools and share a wealth of fire safety information with children to better educate children of all ages in fire prevention and safety.

During September 11th, the men of the Fire Patrol responded to the World Trade Center emergency. They lost one of their own Keith Roma who was one of the first respondents. Many of the patrolmen worked tirelessly looking for survivors on the pile of rumble. Days of breathing in dust, fumes and what not else without thought for themselves. Many of these men now have respiratory issues just as the other rescue workers who worked that day and the days following have health issues. Most of these men do not say anything because they feel this is part of there job and they still have their lives unlike other men and woman who were lost that dreadful day.

There have been articles written about these men of the New York Fire Patrol. A history book has been written by Arthur Smith and published. Historians have written about this organization called the New York Fire Patrol.

The New York Fire Department looks at these men with respect and they work hand in hand at the job sites. When speaking of the Patrol with NY Firemen they will usually respond “the guys in red hats” the Patrol is known around NYC. It is the last existing Patrol in our country.

Because of a professional campaigning group these men have now lost their jobs and the insurance companies have also lost a great benefit to the Commercial Insurance Industry in a time when the industry is being hurt in other areas.


These men are hard working family men. They are passionate about what they do for the Fire Patrol. They are proud to be called Patrol Men.

A group called ELANY campaigned to close the Fire Patrols firehouses. There reasons are one sided. It was stated that The New York Board of Fire Underwriters (NYBFU’s) was aggressively trying to collect assessments. This led a group called the Ad Hoc Group led by ELANY members to analyze the assessments of the services provided by the NYBFU. The Ad Hoc Group only noted the Patrol and what they did 100 years ago rather than what they do now in 2006. In the final analysis from the Ad Hoc Group they found that some insurers who pay the 1% fee to the NYBFU were not benefiting from the work of the Fire Patrol.

While I agree that there should be changes within the NYBFU I do not agree that they should close the Fire Patrol. I think there is a better way to solve the issues that this ELANY group has brought up. I cannot believe that the people who voted to shut the Patrol down did it so easily without looking at the larger picture and assessing the entire situation. How about restructuring the process of 100 years ago to today’s standards? Those that are bullying should be the ones that are shut out. There are over 100 men who will now lose their job with the Fire Patrol because of a quick vote rather than a consideration for new structuring within the NYBFU organization. These men have family. They risk their lives to do the job they were hired to do but also love and do with honor. They are now going to lose their livelihood due to those that do not even work in the field but in an office sitting behind a desk. Because of a few bad seeds within the operational level the Fire Patrol and the City of New York and the surrounding Boroughs will now pay the price.

Here is a suggestion to the Board of Directors and The Member Insurance Companies of the New York Board of Fire Underwriters make changes to the existing protocol of assessing fees. Restructure the organization to make it work for the better for all parties involved. In a year see if the restructuring is up to par and then put it to another vote. Do not make this vote a final decision to end the Fire Patrol and the good work that these men have done over the past 100 years and can and will hope to do in the future. There should be changes made and chances given for all sides that have an interest in the New York Fire Patrol. This vote was the easy way out. Let’s not take the easy way out. Lets support the New York Fire Patrol as they have supported the 5 boroughs for over 100 years. Do not shut them down it would be a big mistake for all parties from the NYBFU to the insurance companies, to the mom and pop stores and large stores a like. It will affect the men who have worked hard to maintain a tradition of salvage work with pride and dedication and affect the family of these men. There is a better way.